Hard Winter Ahead Folklore
When spiders spin their homes larger than usual, it indicates a hard winter is coming. What are they spining?
Webs. Another indicator is more spiders than usual entering homes.
We love what beneficial ladies in their red and black polka-dotted attire roaming round the garden?
Ladybugs. A beneficial insect is something you want in the garden. It preys on destructive insects such as aphids, mealybugs, whiteflies, and many more.
What is a polite reply to “thank you"?
“You’re welcome,” a little please and thank you go a long way these days.
What is the nickname for this decade, the 1920s?
Roaring Twenties. This era was a time of sweeping social and political changes.
You hear a sonic boom on Earth when what happens?
When something exceeds the speed of sound. When you hear a whip crack, it’s because it breaks the speed of sound. You’re hearing a mini sonic boom.
More fog than usual in what month means it’s going to be a cold winter?
August. Folklore says the number of days of fog in August will equal the number of snowfalls during the winter. The prediction is right about 50 percent of the time.
What big black and yellow bee is unlikely to sting you?
A bumblebee. The largest bumblebees are found in South American forests. They earned their nickname of flying mice because they are 1.5 inches or more.
“I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Please do this?”
Marry Me
What is the year of the stock market crash?
1929. It was the original Black Tuesday, well before the one in 1987.
What flying mammals have poor night vision, but their hearing can be better than human hearing?
Bats, they navigate by what is called echolocation. They send out a sound and wait for an echo, which helps them locate or avoid objects.
Folklore says that when what nuts from an oak tree fall in excess, a tough winter is indicated?
Acorns, in fact, acorns have super harvests every few years.
You know fall has arrived when you no longer hear the chirping of what insects at night?
Crickets. When the end of summer approaches, they start to chirp during the day because it’s too cold for them to be out at night. You can estimate the temperature by counting the chirps in 15 seconds and adding 37 to that number.
What major tourist attraction resides partially in Canada and partially in the U.S.?
Niagara Falls. Niagara Falls is comprised of three falls: Horseshoe Falls, Bridal Veil Falls, and American Falls.
What two events in 1918 are attributed to giving us the freewheeling decade of the 1920s? Name one of them.
End of World War I or the (Spanish flu) pandemic. The end of the previous, tumultuous decade is believed to be the cause of throwing all caution to the wind during the 1920s.
What pets hear higher frequencies than humans?
Dogs. That’s the reason they sometimes react to things we cannot see or hear
Early migration of what large, beautiful butterfly can foretell a bad winter ahead?
Monarch. It is true that if we have an early fall, monarchs migrate early because they cannot fly if it’s cloudy and the temperature is below 60 degrees.
What is another name for lightning bug?
Firefly. The firefly belongs to the beetle family.
What is the name of the mountain where four presidents’ busts are carved in stone?
Mount Rushmore. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln were easy choices, but there was a great debate over the fourth choice between Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson––Roosevelt won.
What was the outcome of the temperance movement, which reached its peak in 1919, but it did little to dampen spirits (pun intended) in the 1920s?
Prohibition. The 18th amendment outlawed the manufacture, sale, and transport of alcoholic beverages. In 1933, the Twenty-first Amendment officially overturned it.
When we place what next to our ear, we are not hearing the ocean?
Seashell. What we hear is the sound of blood traveling through veins in our ear.
Halos around one of what two heavenly bodies predict a tough winter?
Sun or Moon. Moisture from ice crystals in cirrus clouds refract light, producing the halos seen around the sun and moon. This moisture does indicate rain or snow to follow, though not necessarily a bad winter season.
Your DNA determines whether this common summertime nuisance will bite you. What is it?
Mosquito. Scientists conducted an experiment with identical and fraternal twins. Mosquitoes reacted the same way toward identical twins but did not always act the same way toward fraternal twins because fraternal twins do not share the exact same DNA.
What city resides partially in Missouri and partially in Kansas?
Kansas City. The city is divided by a two-lane highway that marks the border between the states.
During Prohibition, when people wanted to indulge in the free flow of alcohol, they flocked to saloons and nightclubs that went by what nickname?
Speakeasy. The name speakeasy comes from the fact that people had to whisper a code word to gain admission. They operated like clubs.
True or false? You can’t hear when you’re asleep.
False. You can hear, your brain doesn’t process what the ears hear when you’re asleep.